


The Healer and her Patient

by cymrymira



Series: The Adventures of Kit and Leona and a Few Other Friends! [6]
Category: Original characters - Fandom, World of Warcraft
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-11
Updated: 2018-12-10
Packaged: 2019-09-16 01:23:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,777
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16944357
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cymrymira/pseuds/cymrymira
Summary: A few weeks before Legion, someone greatly injured washes up on Raine's farm... and mysteries of her long forgotten past come to the surface.





	1. Washed Up

**Washed Up**

“Well then,” Dey took a drag off of her pipe, “That’s that I suppose. He was always good for a laugh.”  
  
Raine frowned as she looked at the body of the badly injured hunter, putting her head on his chest as her fingers started to glow a tad bit, “He’s not dead.”

The warlock raised an eyebrow, “How the hell did he survive…” she gestured at him, “You can see the bones sticking out of his arms and legs!”  
  
Raine puffed out her cheeks as she went to the shelf behind her, “Take that outside, I have work to do. He’s alive, but barely, and I don’t want to think of  _what_  actually did this to him,” she pulled down bandages and jars of her antibacterial herb mixture and followed Dey to the door, “Arymia, bring several buckets of water from the stream and get a message to Mira, I might need some blood. Quickly now!” she glanced at her friend, “Stand by please. I might need to cauterize some of those nastier wounds. I’m going to try something else first.”

Then turning, she went to work on the hunter they had found just a few moments ago down in the stream surrounding the farm.   
  
It was a harrowing few hours for Raine, setting ribs and other broken bones, using the Light to check for internal injuries and then slowly stitching him back up. It took nearly fifteen minutes, but Mira arrived with coolers of blood and after taking a taste of his blood, started the transfusion.

Raine was too tired to ask why Mira looked confused at something, and the Blood Mage was too busy stitching where Raine had removed bits of arrow and steel.  
  
It was near nightfall when Raine nodded to her and she bowed her head and left, taking what remnants of blood she didn’t use, and the priestess looked over the Hunter, now resembling some form of life… at least not looking completely like the chewed up remains of a dragon’s meal.

She sat down and took his hand, now for the worst part, waiting to see if her healing actually had any effect.

Near morning his eyes twitched and he groaned.

“Sir, how are you feeling…?” Raine asked quietly as his eyes opened and he stared at her for a long moment…

“FUCKING FUCK! HOW THE  _HELL_  DID I FUCKING END UP HERE?!? AND WHO THE  _FUCK_  ARE YOU!?!”


	2. Adjustment

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Raine's new patient is... er... well, something she's not quite used to.

**Adjustment**

“Alright Leos,” Raine said as she wheeled him out onto the porch, “I figure that fresh air will help a great deal with your recovery, it’s  _good_  to leave that bed, isn’t it?”

He grumbled something incoherent and she smiled, “I’ll be leaving you with Deylestria while I do a bit of work in the garden, I need to restock on some of your medicines after all,” a kazoo answered her from the woman in the rocking chair already on the porch, “Please let me know if you need me.”  
  
She parked his wheelchair, set the brake, and then bowed before running off to gather her herbs.  
  
Raine smiled to herself as she gathered what she needed, Leos was doing better than expected in his recovery, and soon would be strong enough to start physical therapy, though a small part wondered at what had caused such injuries in the first place.  
  
“Miss Raine!” shouted a voice and Arymia ran up to her, Taladren grinning as he ran behind, “ _We did it_! The last of the saplings have been given away to the Magistry, they promised to plant them!”  
  
The priest picked up her small son as she looked at the young Sin'dorei, “A…all of them? What about the ones slated to go to the Cenarion Circle…?”  
  
“Delivered,” Dunath walked up then, the half-orc smiling as he gave Raine the letter of gratitude from the druids still stationed in the Western Plaguelands, “They said that your research is sound.”

“And I delivered the last of the seeds to the Valley,” Litsu said happily as the Pandaren ran up, “Isn’t it great, the farm did what it set out to do!”  
  
“You can go traveling again Miss Raine,” Arymia smiled, clasping her hands behind her back, “We can handle any more orders and get a cow so we can have ice cream!”  
  
Dunath and Litsu sighed at that as Raine giggled, “I suppose it is time to plan out his physical therapy, and I can’t let him leave alone to go out into the world… But what about you three, I can’t make you stay here while I leave to do that.”  
  
“Who said anything about making us?” Litsu put her hands on her hips, “Lady Starblood, I’m a farmer through and through, despite my mother being a part of the Temple Guard, I prefer working in the dirt and the stability. Besides, you said it yourself, the saplings are only the beginning! We need to do a lot more to save Quel'thalas, right?”  
  
“I feel the same way, this is my home,” Arymia smiled, “The only thing I want more than staying here is ice cream.”

“Besides the Argents that raised me until you came to Hearthglen, I have no other home either,” Dunath agreed, “I’d rather work here anyways, I’m accepted here for being a half-orc and my service is getting noticed, an Argent approached me when I was delivering those saplings, he said he’d come to take me as his squire… I’ll wait here until that day happens.”  
  
Litsu and Arymia glanced at him sadly, all except for Taladren hearing the unsaid “even if it  _never_  happens,” and Raine frowned a bit, readjusting her son and chewing the inside of her cheek.

“Then, I’ll leave the farm and clinic to you. Arymia, you know most of my medicines already,” she smiled, “It may be a while before we leave…”

“And don’t worry about a thing, we can handle everything!” Litsu grinned, “I’ll even manage to find enough cows to handle Aerie’s sweet tooth!”  
  
They all laughed at that and talked about a few more things before Raine returned with the herbs to the porch, Taladren holding her hand.  
  
A kazoo blast greeted her and she smiled as she left Taladren on the porch with Deylestria and Leos, running to put the herbs away before coming back for her patient.  
  
“Who’s the brat?” Leos said yawning.  
  
“My son Taladren,” Raine said as she stepped on the brake and started to wheel him back to his room.

“Holy  _fuck_ , you actually fucked someone. I had you pegged for a virgin.”  
  
Her ears were bright red and she swallowed back the meep, “You’re starting physical therapy tomorrow, in a month or so, you should be strong enough to leave the farm. I don’t suggest going out alone though.”  
  
“What  _you’re_  volunteering? You’d last a  _day_.”  
  
She had turned a brighter shade of red and stopped the wheelchair, “You’d last  _less_  if I’m not there to keep those wounds from opening back up or worse. You don’t seem the type to take it easy.”

A kazoo blast came from the front porch and she sighed.  
  
“I’ll bring dinner in a few minutes, do you want to get back into bed now or wait until after eating?”  
  
He growled at her and she smiled, “I’m afraid that it is necessary. Until you undergo physical therapy at least. But I’ll do my best to ensure that you’re back at full strength as soon as possible.”  
  


* * *

"I don’t mind watching the Young Master for a few days,” Mira said as Raine went around packing the small boy’s things, “But… are you sure that he wouldn’t be safer here?”  
  
As to prove her point, the priestess sneezed and sighed, “I don’t want him learning any more of the more colorful language that Mr. Leos…” she sneezed again, “Sorry. Taladren’s already learned…”

“Fucking!” the small boy cried as he ran through the room and Mira blinked as Raine turned bright red.  
  
“Just for the first few days of the physical therapy, I foresee the language getting far more colorful,” Raine sighed, “Dunath and Litsu are treating Arymia to an ice cream festival in Thousand Needles, and Dey… well, I’m not sure where she’s gone. How much do I…” she sneezed again, “…owe you for this?”

“Five vials of blood, I think I’m making progress on your allergies,” Mira reached for her syringes, “And I’ve got a handle on your abilities, that research is almost done.”

“I’ll throw in some more dosages of that tea,” the priestess smiled as the other woman started to take her arm and draw her blood, “And thank you again, I’ll come pick him up once Mr. Leos has gotten a bit stronger and,” she sighed, “I know when the best time to slap a silencing spell on him is.”

“Language isn’t the worst thing that the Young Master can pick up,” she took the vials and put them in the case, cauterizing Raine’s wound, “Though I do see how it would be frustrating to you, after all, you are trying to raise him the best that you can. Bad influences do not help.”

Taladren ran into the room and hugged Raine, “I… just don’t want him to lose his childhood too early,” she said in a quiet voice, “He and Leona at least, need that.”  
  
“I agree. Though I think you are worried over nothing, but a vacation will do him good,” Mira smiled, “Come along Young Master,” she said, picking up his suitcase, as Taladren ran in to hug Raine again, “Leona wants to show you her new panther, Serene has made cupcakes, and perhaps we’ll convince Aura to make those pancakes you and Leona like for breakfast this week.”   
  
The boy smiled and grabbed her offered hand and Raine followed the two outside the farm house and clinic, waving as they walked back to the city.

There was a crash behind her and she took in a deep breath, grateful that her allergies were calming down, and rolled up her sleeves, “Now for the worst part of healing someone…” she muttered, going to start her work.

He’d hate her for it, but Leos would be walking by the end of this week, she intended to keep  _that_  promise at least.

* * *

_It was raining._   
_That didn’t matter much, Taladren and Raine were still laughing in the light shower as they picked the flowers for their crowns, both running barefoot in the field as the mother and son enjoyed a day with no worries, the first in a long time for her._   
  
_Both were stopped when strong arms picked them up and unceremoniously plopped them over shoulders._   
  
_“You’ll catch a cold, and I ain’t burying you both to stupid.”_   
  
_“Taladren eats his vegetables, and I have soup ready,” Raine smiled as she placed one of the crowns on the man’s head, “It’s not often that we get to play, besides, he’ll be starting school soon.”_   
  
_There was a small groan from him and she held her breath, knowing that this was an old argument, one both agreed with, Taladren could benefit more from home-schooling and traveling…_   
  
_…but there would be children his own age at the Magistry run classes…_   
  
_“You know what, there would be kids his own age wherever we go,” he said and she smiled, “Forget that stupid school. We’ll force Dey to come along and tutor him anyways.”_   
  
_She giggled and was plopped down at the kitchen, and she went to finish dinner, peering in to see the two play in a fort made of the couches cushion, “No bows inside,” she said._

_“But Mo-oo-oom, Dad’s teaching me how to shoot!”_   
  
_“He can teach you when it’s sunny,” she said, smiling at them both before finishing dinner._   
  
_It wasn’t the farm anymore, it was a much smaller cottage, surrounded by so many flowers that it was hard to see the house itself. The farm had been bought from her happily by her former students and Dey practically ran back to the city, yelling something incoherent about sheep and farm life and ingrates who had no idea what the word sleep meant._

_The clinic was still in operation, Raine had a specific room for it, but she made house calls more often than people came to her._   
  
_She set the table, another smile and a slight blush coming to her face, and she sighed happily, watching the father and son play before she called them to eat._   
  
_It was the perfect life._   
  
_Kit wrote regularly about her travels, there was a map in the other room filled with the postcards and snapshots her elder daughter had sent, and Mira and Leona visited regularly as well, despite Raine sneezing around the elder woman, and the two had ended up good friends while Leona played with Taladren._   
  
_There was no word from Cero…_   
  
_But that meant there was nothing for them to do, nothing but enjoy her second life._   
  
_Taladren was tucked happily in his bed, plush bat from Aura’s toy store under his arm as both his parents kissed his forehead, and Raine stayed at his door for a long moment, watching him not even noticing the arms that wrapped around her and lifted her up, causing a squeal that was silenced by his lips on hers._   
  
_She giggled as he carried her to their room and unceremoniously was dumped on their bed, and she reached to pull him down for another series of kisses._

_“Leos…” she sighed…_

Raine shot right up in bed, her cheeks and ears the brightest shade of red she had ever felt them to be, and she covered her mouth to keep Dey from killing her if she made another meeping sound.  
  
There was a crash from the clinic and she ran, opening it up to see Leos on the ground next to his bed, throwing whatever he could get his hand on, “FUCKING FUCKITY FUCK!”  
  
“Is everything alright?” she asked, going to help him up, “I’m sorry, we’re starting the physical therapy tomorrow, you’ll be strong enough…”

He glared at her, and she swallowed, “D…do you want a s…sedative to help you sleep?” her voice didn’t meep, she was progressing. So long as she kept her promise to Dey and not make that sound, she was good.  
  
He pulled at her nightgown, causing another shade of red to pass over the visible parts of her skin, and he smirked, “Nah, not a fucking drug that leaves a bad taste… I need something to really relax me,” he leaned closer to her, “Wanna f…”

She didn’t know why she did it, but he was slapped with Light for that, somehow spurred by how gentle he was in that dream, somehow annoyed with yet another tease at her.

“I do not want to have to come in here again tonight!” she snapped, “If you do well enough in physical therapy you can… you can leave and go pick up a random woman of THAT persuasion at the Wayfarer’s, but you will stop making such suggestions at me! Now…” she shoved him in the bed and glared at him, “GO TO SLEEP!”

She stomped out of the room, about to go back to hers when she froze.

There was a distinct sound of a kazoo blasting in accolades.


	3. Reflection

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Raine still is working on healing Leos. And... who is she talking to...?

**Reflection**

It was the fourth day of his physical therapy, and thus far, Raine had only managed to help him be able to stand.  
  
For five minutes.  
  
Still, it was better than nothing, and his arm strength certainly did seem to be returning, so it wasn’t a complete loss yet.

_He is making great progress_ , Raine chided herself,  _After all, he had been on bed rest for nearly two months now, and that was after we found him. Light only knows what put him in that state._  
  
She knocked on his door, “I have salve for your muscles,” she said quietly, waiting for him to answer before she went inside.  
  
There wasn’t one, and she chewed the inside of her cheek, “Should I come back later Mr. Leos?”   
  
Still no answer, and she frowned, it wasn’t like him to be so quiet, and cracked the door open a little to peer inside.  
  
He was laying on his side, and she quietly walked over to him, smiling as she realized that he was sleeping deeply and she breathed a sigh of relief before placing the jar on the nightstand, and summoned a small amount of light to her fingers to check his wounds.  
  
All were healing as they should be expected, and she nodded to herself.

“Goodnight Mr. Leos,” she whispered, covering him gently with a blanket before leaving his room and closing the door behind her as softly as she could.  
  
Raine stepped to the kitchen and took out a few things from the cupboard, mentally going over the recipes for the next day that she would be making for their meals.  
  
“I’ll need to go to the market for some meat soon,” she mused, “He’ll need more proteins to build those muscles, and then some vitamins…”

_“You could make another batch of that green soup, with some bread. It always smells good.”  
_  
She smiled at the ghost child that spoke, “I suppose it’s time for me to make some pies, in case Luna stops by. Even if you can’t eat them, I know that you all like to smell them.”  
  
 _“I don’t think she will, we’ve been keeping her away purposefully,”_  another child said,  _“She’ll be sad if she remembers.”_  
  
“That is still her decision, not yours,” Raine said sadly, “And we all have things we regret. Besides, having her think that she did it because she’s keeping a secret for someone else is cruel. Let Luna find her  _own_  answers.”  
  
The ghost children didn’t answer that, and she chewed the inside of her cheek when she saw that she was alone in the kitchen again, and she chopped up the vegetables and started them stewing on the stove as she gathered the things to mix for the bread.

* * *

“Wake the fuck up!”  
  
She started, looking wildly around, finding that she had fallen asleep at the table, and Leos standing over her with a scowl on his face.  
  
One that she was a tad surprised to see hid a good deal of concern.  
  
“You were screaming,” he traced one of the scars showing on her face, “Figured it had to do with whoever gave you those.”  
  
She swallowed and nodded, standing up and going to check on the stew, “I…it happened a good while back, but still…” she took a deep breath and smiled, “You’re doing well to come all the way here without assistance.”  
  
He sat at the table and crossed his arms, “Had to use the cane,” he snorted, “Bitch to walk even with that. You better heal me up all the way soon.”  
  
“Proper healing takes time, I can’t just wave my hand and say ‘Light Bless You’ and have everything be alright,” she said taking the bowl of dough and returning to the table, “Your wounds are closed, now it’s just building the muscle back up. You may never be back to your original strength though, there are some things that don’t heal,” her face darkened for a moment, “And other wounds that take a great deal of time.”  
  
He snorted again as she worked on kneading, “The hell is your story anyways? I should have been fucking dead. Fuck, I  _was_  at the Pearly Gates and  _you_  pulled me back.”  
  
“I highly doubt that,” she chuckled softly, “I’m just a pharmacist.”  
  
“I’ve seen death enough to know. I’ve also read those notes you made on my injury,” his lack of foul language made her look up, “I’ve got this nagging fucking feeling that you’re one of the few bitches that can say ‘Light Bless You’ and heal me the fuck up. So why?”  
  
Raine chewed her bottom lip, then stood, getting a sheet to put the bread on, “It’s my job to heal people.”  
  
“Not the fucking question I asked.”  
  
“…” she took a deep breath, “I  _can’t_  tell you…” she whispered, her cheeks bright red, “…not yet at least.”  
  
She winced as he growled and got up at that, grabbing the cane and hobbling out of the kitchen.  
  
“I want five bowls of that damn soup. And three loaves of bread! And fucking hurry up!”  
  


* * *

  
“They think that I chose to abandon the living to heal the dead.”  
  
Raine did not look in the mirror as the words were said by her reflection, only nodded slightly, “They do not know what it was we were protecting in Auchindoun, it had disappeared after all. Perhaps we could have prevented this if…”  
  
“No, this would have happened no matter what, we have seen as much.”  
  
Which one was Raine, and which one was Ladnis…  
  
Both, neither. It didn’t matter any longer.  
  
“I’ve stayed on this farm long enough. I can’t ignore my duties to the rest of this world any longer.”  
  
Vel was not the first one that had approached her after the Invasion had begun after all. Someone that Raine did not realize had even known of her had came to the farm in the dead of night a few weeks ago, a human girl that asked her to join the Priesthood she was uniting.  
  
“Will we be able to save them this time?”  
  
“We can only try… we have to, it is why we were brought back.”  
  
Which one was Raine, and which one was Ladnis…  
  
What had she seen in the Sunwell, as a Spirit Healer…?  
  
The reflection looked over her shoulder, “There will be more of the Children there.”  
  
“Luna is already searching for them… they are out of our hands now. We heal the Living.”  
  
Both sighed, chewing their lips as they looked away from each other.  
  
“I’m frightened.”  
  
She smiled, “Have a little faith… we are never alone.”  
  
“And yet…”  
  
The priestess turned to her reflection, placing her hand on the glass, “I will protect you as well. Do not fear any longer.”  
  
There was a knock on the door and she turned to go open it, not looking as her reflection swallowed and clenched her fists, “Taladren,” she said to the small boy that was in the hallway, “Did you have another bad dream?”  
  
He nodded and she brought him inside the room, kissing his forehead before picking him up and holding him, singing a lullaby that sounded like birdsong as he drifted back to sleep.  
  
She never noticed the hunter in the hall that stared suspiciously in her doorway.


	4. Clinic

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Raine goes to the Broken Isles to set up a clinic at Vel's request, taking her newest patient with her.

**Clinic**

Raine frowned as she looked at the vials, puffing her cheeks out in frustration at the centrifuge.   
  
The arcwine was still arcwine, spinning it in there hadn’t done anything to separate the components, which meant they were fused far more than she had been led to believe.  
  
“So much for using that to find the properties of the Nightwell,” she sighed, then picked one of the vials out and shook it, “Either they mix it arcanely… which is very possible… or something else is at play here.”  
  
More than likely the former, everything she had heard about Suramar led her to that conclusion. But the information that Lore gave her last night gave her pause before fully accepting that.

_I need a more permanent location so that I can run more tests.  
_  
“I need some sort of thesis first, I have to present the Nightfallen with some sort of reason to think I can actually help them,” she scolded herself, then set the vial of arcwine in the stand, sitting down and staring at it, “I don’t have the moonwell or Sunwell waters yet, so no comparisons… but I could…”  
  
She scrunched her nose in thought and frowned.  
  
“Your face will stick that way,” a voice said and she looked over to the doorway of the ruins where she had set up a temporary shop to see the still bandaged hunter scowling at her, “Not that I fucking mind, serves you right for dragging me out here.”  
  
“The clinic was closed, and as your physician,  I can’t sign you off as healed until I’m certain that you can take three steps without seriously injuring yourself,” she stood, wiping her hands on a cloth, “And didn’t I tell you not to walk without a cane?”  
  
“The fucking brat took it! I can’t help…” she pointed behind him, and he glanced behind him to see the cane leaning against his bed, “I bet he would have taken it if I asked him.”  
  
“It would help if Taladren was actually here, but I left him with Elder Litsu in Halfhill until I set up the clinic here… and I’m sure it’s safe for a four year old,” Raine frowned, “Didn’t you wonder that it was quieter than normal?”  
  
He shrugged, then regretted it judging by the wince, “I thought you slipped me some  _good_  painkillers in that last bit of sludge you call tea.”  
  
She smiled sadly, then walked back to her research, “Go back to bed Mr. Leos, it’s not time for your physical therapy yet and you need rest before…”  
  
“It’s boring as hell!”  
  
“I wasn’t the one that got myself beaten to literally three millimeters of my life!” she snapped at him, then turned bright red, looking quickly away, “You still have five broken ribs and a punctured lung that I can’t heal, go back to bed.”  
  
“I can breathe. Like I fucking said, I was bored,” he hobbled into the room and sprawled out on the couch she had set up for inpatients, “The hell we doing out here anyways?”  
  
“Partly to pay a debt, and partly because I was asked,” she took some of the herbs that she had gathered in this area, “Mostly because there are those that need my help in healing. We’re in Azsuna, on the Broken Isles… we’ll be heading to Suramar, or as close as I can get to the city without calling attention to ourselves, as soon as I can make contact with the Nightfallen.”  
  
“The hell! You  _did_  slip something into that fucking sludge!”  
  
“I had to move you safely somehow, but I did actually tell you,” Raine sighed, “You were awake when the ambassador from the Magistry came to the farm and when I left for Halfhill.”  
  
He remembered, “So who the fuck are the Nightfallen and why the fuck are they more important than regrowing the Scar?”  
  
“The Warchief needed more funds, we were the easiest for the Magistry to cut… it’d take at least a hundred years, and besides, the saplings are already planted… the others are working on more in Halfhill,” she took a deep breath, “As for the Nightfallen and Withered… ”

Oddly he didn’t interrupt when she explained what Vel and Lore had told her, the very little she knew of their situation.  
  
“Alright, I can get why a bleeding heart cunt like you is helping,” he held up his hands in defeat, “But you said paying back a debt… who asked you?”  
  
She looked away, “I’ll be doing it as a director of Crimson Wings officially.”  
  
He glared at her, “You told me you had nothing more to do withhim.”  
  
“Technically I don’t, it’s Vel that asked me, he’s still missing,” she sighed, “And I still speak with Mira regularly and he is Taladren’s legal guardian. No matter what, I’d still at least be remotely connected…”  
  
“Tell this Vel you refuse. Go back to Halfhill, fight to get your Light-damned farm back. We’ll get a new Warchief soon enough.”  
  
“And leave the Nightfallen and Withered to die? If I had more time I could have stopped the Wretched from…” she shook her head, “I have to do this Mr. Leos. Even if I didn’t have the debt to pay back to him, I would.”  
  
“Exactly what in the hell do you owe him?”  
  
She looked back at him, tears in her eyes, “I…” she glanced away, her cheeks flushed, “I… can’t tell you. It’s…”  
  
“The hell you can’t! What the  _fuck_  did he do that got you and your kid tied to him!  _It makes no sense!_ You’re the worse goody two shoes prude I ever seen. He take you from the brute that gave you those scars?”  
  
“No, those were…” she closed her eyes tightly, “Those were caused by my death.”  
  
Leos stared at her as she ran from the room, then winced as he raised his hand to scratch his head.  
  
“The fuck…  _hold on a second_!”

Raine was at the doorway to the ruins, about to pull the curtain to leave when he grabbed it and shoved it closed, “You shouldn’t run, you’ll open…”  
  
“And who the hell made me run to catch her,” he whirled her around to face him, “What do you mean those scars were caused by your death? You ain’t one of the Forsaken, you’re…” he cupped her cheeks, “You’re alive. So what the hell do you mean?”  
  
“You never wondered why people call me Raine when my name is Araidne? That doesn’t sound odd as a nickname to you?”  
  
“I figured it was because you cry so damn easy,” he stared at her, “I can catch one of the ex-Scourge a mile away, you’re not that.”  
  
“You won’t believe me if I told you what I was…”  
  
“I believed Sweet Cheeks when she told me insane things, besides, I overheard you every time you talked to yourself,” he ran a finger across her lips, “And unlike her, you’ve got a good handle on what is real.”  
  
“And this is?”  
  
“You refuse to let me just go out on my own, I figured there’s something there.”  
  
“And there’s no chance that I just don’t want my patient…” he kissed her deeply, stealing away what argument she had and her hands raised, fingers twisting in his hair.  
  
“Nah,” he breathed when they parted, “You  _want_  me.”  
  
“No,” she gasped, “I… I  _can’t_ …”  
  
He frowned, “I was wr…” he blinked as she kissed him.  
  
“I can’t let you strain yourself,” she managed to get out, her ears bright red, “B…bed, you…lie down…” speech failed her again and she meeped in frustration.  
  
“ _How’d_  you have a kid again?”  
  
“I’m serious! You’ll hurt yourself if you,” she covered her face in her hands, “Light, Leos, you nearly died so many times after we fished you out of that river, I’m not…”  
  
He took her hands, smirking at her, “So I lie down and you…”  
  
She squeaked and he chuckled, and then feigned innocence when she shot him a look, then Raine sighed in defeat, her ears still bright red, “I…it’s been a  _long_  time…”  
  
“I won’t complain about physical therapy any more if you give me rewards,” he teased, kissing her forehead, “I’ll even be good and…” he paused at her sudden sneezing fit, looking up, then cursed, pulling her to him and dived out of the building and into the foliage surrounding it.  
  
Raine bit back a scream, her eyes wide as she watched the ruins crumble, “N…no, let me go, I have to…”  
  
“Fucking idiot, they’re still here,” he hissed at her, covering her mouth, as he peered from the bushes, “That research worth your life?”  
  
“If it saves even one person, then yes,” she chewed her bottom lip, “Leos, stay here, you can’t fight…”   
  
“The  _hell_  I can!”  
  
“ _No, you can’t_ ,” she crawled out of his arms, “I’ll draw their attention, and then you can make it for the Crumbling Palace, it’s not far from here and the ghosts there won’t harm you. I’ll meet you back there,” she kissed his cheek  and pointed before standing up, “Slowly, you’ll open a wound if you try to rush,” she smiled and then raised her voice, running towards the ruins, “My research, I have to get it back!”

_It’s too quiet…_  
  
She sneezed and turned just in time to see the wrathguard bring his blade down, ducking as she scrambled away from the blade and threw a hand up, bringing a shield around her.  
  
 _Did they come because I started to find a way to alleviate the addiction the Nightfallen have or…_ she whispered a few strange words, gathering Light in her hands that she slammed into the wrathguard’s chest.  
  
He went down and she had a coughing fit, wiping her nose as she got up to run to what was left of her laboratory, staring in shock at the imps running through it, and the one man standing and looking through her notes.  
  
 _He said that he would help…_  
  
“I’ll be allowed back into the city with this,” the Darkfallen picked up the arcwine and held it close to him, “You promised…”  
  
“You’d set your people to suffer because of something so trivial,” she said, sneezing again as they turned their attention to her, “I can…”  
  
“What, give the Nightwell to everyone? You can’t even be in the same vicinity of the demons without,” almost as if to prove his point, she had another coughing fit, “That,” he flicked his hands at her, “Oh it sounds nice when you first said it, but outsiders won’t understand the pain we suffer… and they offered the better deal,” he moved to drink the arcwine, yelping when an arrow shot through it.  
  
At that second Raine let Light explode around her, causing the imps to yelp and flee before being burned.  
  
“My eyes!” the Nightfallen screamed, then was silent as another arrow hit him in the chest, then chaos as more arrived.  
  
“Illidari! Search for survivors!”   
  
Raine looked up as the demon hunters came to the scene, then gasped, running past them to follow where the arrows had been shot from.  
  
“Leos…” she covered her mouth when she found him, leaning against a rock halfway up the hill.  
  
“Looks worse than it is,” he winced as he dropped the ancient bow, “Couldn’t get up the rest of the way, and there was one…” his head fell back, “Amazed I was able to get those off. I missed the first one.”  
  
“I suppose I’m lucky there was a battle here,” she laid him down and started to examine him, cursing under her breath when she saw the damage, “You went the wrong way.”  
  
“Fuck,” he coughed and she chewed her bottom lip at seeing the blood, “You’ll never let me off bed rest now.”  
  
She shook her head, tears in her eyes as she placed a hand on his chest, “Thirteen.”  
  
He raised a hand to her cheek, not surprised when he couldn’t lift it, “That many? Shit. I knew I was hard to kill, but…” he took a shallow breath, “That hole in my lung?”  
  
She nodded, “I…I can’t do this very often,” she whispered, “I only have three left,” she raised a hand to her hair and pulled it back behind her ear, producing a feather made of pure light, “But Ladnis and I are in agreement, and you are my patient… and…” she chewed her bottom lip as she placed it on his chest and covered it with both hands, “I…I want to give this a chance that we may…” her cheeks burned.  
  
“Save it for when you’re fucking sure,” he closed his eyes, not hearing the soft song that she started.  
  
Light flowed out from beneath her fingers, growing like flowering vines around his body as she softly sung, golden feathered wings appearing on her back as the song became stronger, and soon both were covered in the light.  
  
And then, as soon as it started, it broke away, scattering to petals and feathers that flew away with the wind, leaving only Raine watching Leos’ chest rise and fall.  
  
He took a sharp intake of breath and blinked, sitting up as he stared at her.  
“I’m… not like Luna,” she said quietly, “Ladnis and I… when we die again, it’ll be for good,” she frowned, “I _think_  at least.”  
  
“That’s what you owe him?”  
  
She nodded, and he stood, rolled his shoulders, then glared at her.  
  
“Why the fuck didn’t you do that in the first place? Physical therapy my ass!” he cracked his fingers, “You owe me the night of my  _fucking life_!”  
  
She smiled weakly, hugging her knees, “I hate to tell you…”  
  
“Alright,” he smirked, “You lie down and I’ll…”  
  
She meeped, covering her face in her hands as he knelt down to her.  
  
“Since it’s been so long, I think a bit of physical therapy’s in order…” he teased, chuckling as she turned the shade of a tomato.

* * *

“It’s morning already,” Raine said quietly as she noticed the sky lighten outside their tent, and propped herself up on her elbows, “I’ll have to get back to work.”  
  
“Tomorrow,” Leos said rolling over to his back, “Besides, you were pretty damn selfish cleaning up the mess yesterday. It can wait.”  
  
“Mira wouldn’t have forgiven me if I didn’t get some blood from that Nightfallen, besides, there might be something there that can point me in the right direction,” she puffed out her cheeks, “A few years ago, and I’d have been horrified at that thought. Felicia’s right, I was naive.”  
  
“You still are,” he glanced at her, “Get some fucking sleep, you’ll need it.”  
  
She smiled and started to get up, “If you’ll let me tonight, I’ll do it then,” she smiled, “But there’s…” she frowned and started to sneeze and cough, and Leos sat up.  
  
“Hey hey! You up yet?” a cheerful voice called from outside the tent and Raine managed to swallow a few of the allergy tablets before grabbing a robe to wrap around herself and peer out the tent.  
  
She stared at the Illidari with red hair that was sitting in front of the tent, “Man, you two were at it all  _night_! I’m gonna have to take a nap later, so…” she grinned, “How’s it going Araindwen? I heard Alandrine finally kicked it, so finally free of that bitch huh?”  
  
“Er…” Raine swallowed, “Um… I don’t…”  
  
“Oh yeah, I guess I do look different, purplish skin and tatoos and all,” she stood, holding out a hand, “I used to be Korilina Starhunter, but I changed my name to Kora Felfeather ‘cause it’s cooler and seems more demon hunter-y. That and well, quite frankly, I gave up any actual status I had when I joined the Royal Guard anyways. That was a few decades before you came to be her apprentice, but I remember you from a few visits and my brother’s funeral… Course I remember your dad a lot more, he and bro were fucking adorable.”  
  
Raine sneezed again, “I… don’t remember… wait, how did you know…” she coughed and Kora frowned, “This is…”  
  
“She did a number on your memories, that much I already knew… she had a few deals with some of the higher ranking members of the Legion, that’s one reason I joined up with the Illidari, but…” Kora bopped Raine’s nose, “I knew you cause only one Light-bearer I ever met gave off that particular aura of it. That and I overheard him call you Raine a few times last night…”  
  
The priestess was bright red, “Y… you heard…”  
  
Kora giggled, “Nah, I was just trying to talk to you. So I heard that you’re starting a clinic or something. That’s good, I figured I can be a little more help. Wrecking havoc on the Legion is fun and all, but you’re family… well sort of… you married Kaellon at least, and I owe you for not being able to get you away from Alandrine. I can’t do much, but I was one of the Prince’s retainers, and I spent a bit of time with your Dad and Bro when we were all kids, and he taught me some herb lore. So I can get you supplies. Besides, who knows what I might find when I attack some of the demon strongholds.”  
  
She clapped her hands before Raine could respond, “Welp! That’s all I wanted to say! I better get going, I bet that sneezing’s got something to do with that bitch too. Almost sorry I was too late to help kill her, but that’s all the Wardens’ fault. And since it’s been good and taken care of, I guess I better go find that General that made it happen. Be around Araindwen!”  
  
Raine could only watch her skip off, then sat down.  
  
“I… I think I will sleep today… it’s just… gotten very  _weird_ …”


End file.
